The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-02-25
DIGGING oUTTHE SPHINX.
What has been Already Brought to
Light-Expected Discoveries.
London Times.

London Times
The last occasion on which the Great
Sphinx was cleared down to the level on
which the paws rest was in honor of the
opening Of the Suez canal in 1869. The ever
drifting sands had, however, reburied it al
most to the throat when.Prof. Maspero, dur
ing his last year Of Office at Boulak, began
again The work of disinterment. This work
has now been going on, somewhat intermit-
tently, for more than twelve months, and is
at the present time in active progress under
the direction Of Prof. Maspero's successor,
M. Grebaut. A tramway has been laid down
from the Sphinx to the edge of the Pyramid
plateau, passing close under the west face of
the granite building, popularity, though incor-
rectly, called the temple of the Sphinx.
Along this tramway light trucks convey the
sand to the point at which their contents are
discharged. the trucks being loaded by Arabs
OIL ~Doth sexes and all ages, who carry the
SAND upon their heads in large fiat baskets,
ascending and descending all day long from
the excavations below to the tramway above
and vice versa. The means look curiOuslv
inadequate, but the results are astonishing.
Already the entire fore part of the great
STONE monster is laid bare, and already the
paws, the paws, the altar in front of them,
and the platform upon which they rest. are
once more open to the light of day. Nor is
TINS all. Between the Sphinx and the edge
III Tue pSaanlia plateau vast space mad also
Deeh cleared, thus bringing to view fine
hight OF steps, some forty feet in width.
These steps, which are described by Pliny
were uncovered by Cayiglia in 1917, but hays
been entirely lost to sight for neary seventy
years. second flight of steps and the re-
WI hrtil
found by Caviglia, and will again be brought
to light if nj. Grebaut continues to work in
this direction.
TO the right of the Sphinx-that is to say,
in the direction of the granite temple, to the
Southwark further excavation IS in prog
ress, the result of which will probably con-
firm the surmises of those who believe the
Sphinx to stand in the midst Of huge arti-
fetal amphitheatre hewn out of the solid
rock. This gigantic work would of course
be eontemporaneous with the Sphinx ITSELF
wnlch Marlette attributed to the mythic
ages before the advent of Mena, the first
king OF the first dynasty, and which Maspe-
70 considers to be, If not actually pre-his-
t0ric, at all events the oldest monument IN
Egypt 1Pom tn. ,.,.., ;, A., -, -.
flight Of steps (Which lead down, and not up.
TO the Sphinx one now measures the whole
helght OF the huge human-headed monster.
whose battered countenance stands out
against the cloudless sky 100 feet above. The
space between the paws is 80 feet long and
10 ieet wide. This space was anciently con-
verted into small sanctuary lined with vo-
tive tablets, only one of which-the famous
stella Of Thothmes IV.-yet remains IN sta.
This stella records how the king, when upon
one OF his hunting expeditions, lay down to
rest at midday in the shadow of the Sphinx
de there fell asleep, and dreamed dream
IN which the venerable image conjured him
to clear away the sand in which it was near
" buried; Then the prince awoke and
made silence in his heart" and vowed to
DO that which the god had commanded.
The paws of the Sphinx, as they now an
pear, are restoration of Roman date, being
cased in comparatively small slabs, and to
some extent, hollow underneath. The breast
OF the Sphinx has likewise been faced with
slabs, apparently in Roman times; and these
slabs have again been repaired by cutting
away the weathered surface and inserting
fresh facing. Like the legs Of the Colossi of
the Plain, and those of the great statues at
Aboo Simbel, the paws Of the Sphinx are
covered with the Greek scrawls of early tray-
ellers; but these graft ii are mostly of late
period and so slightly scratched that few are
legible throughout. Such as they are, how
ever, Professor Maspero has, it is under
Stood devoted himself to the ungrateful and
difficult task of translating them.
M. Grebauts excavations are not limited
to the clearance Of the Sphinx only. Vari-
GUS interesting tombs have lately been dis
covered in the vicinity of the great Pyramid,
and to the westward the face of the Libyan
cliff has been reached where it forms the nat
ural boundary of the Pyramid plateau. Some
good early rock-cut tombs, with built fore
courts, have been found in the face of this
cliff, in two Of which the walled-up recesses
or secret chambers, called ''serdabs," which
were constructed for the safe keeping of fu-
nerary portrait statues, are yet intact with
their contents